Some say yes, at least for this year, the time has passed for President Obama to issue an executive order that would require federal contractors to disclose their political contributions. But some transparency advocates say a window of opportunity still exists for transparency into corporate political contributions. The door is still open if the administration does not tie the award of contracts to political disclosure, the main objection of critics, Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight, said Monday. The administration instead should require anyone who receives federal money, including grant recipients, to disclose their political contribution information after award,…
Monthly Archives: April, 2012
The latest pension processing stats from the Office of Personnel Management contained an interesting nugget on retirement trends. Namely, that they’re continuing to rise in 2012, after shooting up 24 percent in 2011. It’s not hard to figure out why. Agencies are offering federal employees buyouts and early outs left and right to deal with limited budgets. And with Congress constantly threatening to further freeze feds’ pay, increase their retirement contributions, or switch to a high-5, many feds are beating a path to the door. Federal Times would like to hear from you about the still-increasing retirement trend, and how…
The General Services Administration’s infamous Las Vegas conference is turning into a viral video bonanza. The clip of a GSA employee rapping about becoming commissioner and blowing cash exploded last Thursday, even reaching the Daily Show. And today, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., released another video in which GSA employees sing about going green to the tune of Patti LaBelle’s “Ready for a Miracle.” This new one … well … let’s just say it’s no “When I’m Commissioner.” At this point, I’m not sure what’s worse — the government waste or the butchering of a gospel classic. And the awards-show banter…
Last night, the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart weighed in on the General Services Administration’s conference spending scandal and zeroed in on what may be its most appalling angle: The sheer lameness of the crap GSA bought with $822,000 in taxpayer dollars. Said an outraged Stewart: Canteens, clowns and bicycles? You’re in Vegas! Unless those canteens were filled with cocaine […], you are a disgrace to corruption everywhere. I think I’m less upset about the waste of money than I am with the waste of opportunity. […] Yearbooks! They got yearbooks! The people in government known for efficiency and cost-cutting made…
The Federal Aviation Administration has saved money and increased efficiency since it began issuing iPads and Android devices to employees a year ago, an agency official said. FAA’s legal department, for example, uses iPads during cases it prosecutes to show radar images of air traffic conditions at the time of a contested incident. Such evidence often leads to defendants ending cases earlier, said Robert Corcoran, manager for architecture and applied technology at FAA. The legal department estimates that FAA saves about $100,000 per case when cases end early, Corcoran said Tuesday at the FOSE conference inWashington. FAA has issued 1,100…
UPDATED WITH GSA STATEMENT: This may be the last thing the beleaguered General Services Administration needed after its lavish conference-spending scandal. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee just released a prize-winning music video from that conference in which an employee raps about all the cool stuff he’s going to buy when he’s the boss. Which really doesn’t look good in retrospect, considering that infamous Las Vegas conference cost GSA $822,000 and brought down Administrator Martha Johnson and several other top officials. The irony in the video runs a mile deep. After a languid ukelele intro laying out his dream…
Unedited and in its entirety. For an updated GSA story click here. Dear GSA: Today, I am joining your team to serve as your Acting Administrator. I recognize that this is not easy, but I am confident that you will not allow circumstances to slow your momentum or progress in the many important areas of the federal government where GSA plays a vital role. As the Assistant Secretary for Management and CFO of the Treasury Department and GSA customer for the last three years, I am impressed by the progress of this agency, as both a service provider and a…
While most of the scandal around GSA’s lavish 2010 conference in Las Vegas revolves around overpriced mind readers, ridiculously expensive team-building activities and expensive meals, GSA also spent more than $130,000 just to pick the spot where they were going to blow more than $686,000. So for your reading pleasure, a timeline of all the scouting trips GSA employees took to plan for the conference. The morning of Monday, October 25, and all of Friday, October 29, were travel days. GSA published a notice of its planned procurement on February 2, 2009. The subsequent conference planning meetings included the following:…
The focus of a congressional hearing last week was on the U.S. Postal Service’s desire to create its own employee health insurance plan. But Postmaster General Pat Donahoe also had something intriguing to say about the possibility of some kind of employee buyout program. Asked by one lawmaker whether he had any plans or suggestions to “incentivize” retirement for workers who are eligible to leave, Donahoe said this (according to a transcript): “We do plan on issuing some incentives based on the fact that we make some changes in our operations. As we shrink the network, as we move from…
After their agency took an almost 50 percent budget hit, officials with the inspector general that monitors AmeriCorps and other community service programs warned that big reductions in staffing and oversight weren’t far behind. They weren’t bluffing. From 33 employees in mid-January, the IG’s workforce has since shrunk to 17—in part because of a reduction-in-force–and another four employees are expected to leave soon for other jobs, Counsel Vincent Mulloy said in an email last week. The office’s acting chief, deputy IG Ken Bach, was “heartened” that many employees were able to find work elsewhere, Mulloy said, “and regretted that he…